Online Reputation Management For Dummies

Understanding What Fuels the Fire

Online media is a strange new animal that we are all still trying to figure out. In Chapter 13, I list some tips about what makes a video go viral, but the fact is that nobody really knows why it happens. If anyone did, he could make quite a lot of money creating videos for companies with deep pockets.

I believe that the reason why so many social media firestorms happen is that most people online want to do good or to share stories that they feel are newsworthy. When an organization doesn’t respond to the growing number of complaints, questions, and comments concerning the issue at hand, it leaves room for lots of speculation.

Savvy bloggers understand how to boost their blog traffic by picking up on online trends and writing about them. When that first post creates buzz, another blogger picks up the story, adds a fresh perspective, and creates even more buzz. Soon everyone is discussing the story.

Often, these buzzworthy stories are controversial, or simply incite passionate responses. In a real crisis, those passionate responses are directed at you. The best way for you to dissipate that high emotional energy is to address the issue with

Honesty: You are seriously playing with fire if you think you can create a fake profile in order to infiltrate what inflammatory groups may be saying about you on their private forums. It’s a huge breach of trust ...